Heartland Turtle Bars…with walnuts!

Last month I participated in a month long medical elective for integrative/alternative/complementary medicine.  25 medical students from across the country stayed in a retreat center in Ben Lomond, CA.  We all had to prepare meals for each other which turned out to be a blast!  I really enjoyed that when I baked a dessert, it was gone within 24 hours and for a change it wasn’t me who finished all of it

One evening I got the urge to bake and was looking through our ingredients to see what I would be able to make.  Turns out I had everything for these bars except pecans.  So I used walnuts instead and they worked beautifully!  I’m trying to come up with an alternative word to turtle to describe these with walnuts, but I haven’t come up with anything yet.  The crust for these bars is magical and rustic with oatmeal and cinnamon.  This was also the first time that I ever made caramel from scratch before.  It was easy and I used half and half instead of heavy cream (it was all I had on hand to work with) and the sauce thickened nicely as it cooled.  I would make these bars immediately!

Heartland Turtle Bars…with walnuts!

adapted from une gamine dans la cuisine

Ingredients

The crust:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 3/4 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted

The filling:

• 1 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

The caramel:

• 2 Tbsp half and half (or heavy cream)
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 10 Tbsp  unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes

DirectionsPreheat the oven to 350 F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch baking pan with butter.  Then line the pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil leaving a slight overhang around the edges.  Butter the parchment paper or foil.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda. Add the brown sugar and use your hands to work it into the other ingredients.  Mix in the oats.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the melted butter. Using a large rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir until the mixture is wet and combined.

Spread about 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Press into an even layer across the bottom. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or just until the edges begin to brown. Remove the pan from the oven and place onto a cooling rack.  Leave the oven on.
Allow the crust to cool for 1o minutes and then sprinkle the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips over the crust evenly distributing them.

To make the caramel sauce, place the brown sugar, salt, and butter cubes into a medium-size sauce pan. Heat over medium-high until the butter has melted, stirring frequently.  Bring the mixture to a slow boil and boil for about 1 minute, stirring constantly.  The mixture should be darkening in color at this point.  Once the mixture has darkened at least a little, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the half and half.   Pour the hot caramel directly over the chocolate walnut layer in an even distribution.  Use a spatula to carefully help spread the caramel if it is uneven.  (The goal here is not perfection but just that caramel is roughly covering most of the chocolate walnut layer)  Sprinkle the remaining crust onto the caramel layer.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the top is light golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and place it onto a cooling rack. Serve warm, cool, or with vanilla ice cream!

Milk Bar Birthday Cake (8×8 version)

While going through a food blog spiral where I kept clicking on link after link I ran across a group of food bloggers to do “Milk Bar Monday” recipes.  The recipes looked a little bit involved but quite tasty, so I decided to give it a try for my mom’s birthday cake.  The original version requires a 6 inch cake cut out, acetate paper, glucose, and citric acid.  I have made a version that requires 8×8 round cake pans and ingredient substitutions for the glucose and the citric acid.

Part of what makes this cake so special and unique are the cake crumbs.  These are little crunchy bits of deliciousness!  You place them in the icing center layer of the cake which adds great texture to the cake.  This cake also calls for shortening.  I was very reluctant to use shortening, but this cake is so amazing that it was worth it!

Sprinkles make everything a little brighter and more fun!  Here is a picture of my Mom and her cake.

Milk Bar Birthday Cake (8×8 version)

adapted from the baker chick

Ingredients and Directions

Birthday Cake

• 2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp rainbow sprinkles
• 4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) salted butter, at room temp
• 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 Tbsp light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (reduced fat works too!)
• 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Prepare two 8×8 round cake pans by spraying with cooking spray and covering the base with a circle of parchment paper cut to size.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and 1/4 cup sprinkles in a small bowl.
3. Cream together the butter, shortening, and sugars on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed.
4. Add the eggs (all at once) and then beat again on medium-high for another 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl.
5. Mixing on low speed, add the wet ingredients (buttermilk, canola oil, and vanilla) in a steady stream. Increase the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for another 4 to 6 minutes. Don’t stop mixing until the mixture is completely homogeneous, with no visible streaks of oil or fat.
6. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients, and mix until the ingredients are just combined.
7. Pour half the batter into each of the prepared cake pans.  Spread it out into an even layer with a spatula if needed. Sprinkle each cake with 1 Tbsp of sprinkles.
8. Bake for 20–25 minutes until the cake bounces back slightly when gently pressed in the corner and the center of the cake  no longer jiggles when the pan is shook.  Cool the cake completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Birthday Cake Crumb

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp rainbow sprinkles
• 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1. Turn the oven down to 300 and line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
2. Combine the sugars, flour, baking powder, salt, and sprinkles and using an electric hand mixer mix on low speed until combined.
3. Stream in the oil and the vanilla extract on low speed and continue beating the mixture until the ingredients clump and form small clusters.  Add another 1-2 Tbsp canola oil if the mixture seems too dry.
4. Carefully spread the clusters in a thin layer on the prepared baking sheet and bake them for about 20 minutes.  They will be slightly moist but will harden as they cool.  Let them cool on the baking sheet for about 10-15 minutes.  Then transfer them to another plate or bowl and break them into small chunks.  Let them cool completely before using.

Birthday Cake Soak

• 1/8 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Whisk together the milk and vanilla in a small cup or bowl.

Birthday Cake Frosting

• 16 Tbsp (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temp
• 4 Tbsp light corn syrup
• 2 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 2-3 cups powdered sugar
• pinch baking powder

1. With an electric mixer, cream the butter, shortening, and the cream cheese for 2 to 3 minutes on medium-high until the mixture is smooth and fluffy.
2. Add the corn syrup and vanilla  and beat the mixture on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture is smooth and glossy white.
3. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and baking powder and mix on low speed until just combined.  Taste the frosting and add more powdered sugar until the desired level of sweetness is reached.  Crank the mixer to high speed and beat for 2 to 3 minutes or until the mixture is stark white and fluffy.

Now it is time to assemble the cake!

1. Invert the birthday cake onto a sheet of parchment paper or wire rack and peel off the parchment paper backing.
2. Place one cake layer on on the serving plate
3. Dunk the pastry brush in the birthday cake soak and give the bottom cake layer a good, healthy bath of half of the soak.
4. Spread a portion of the birthday cake frosting over the base layer. Then sprinkle with half of the birthday cake crumbs evenly over the top of the frosting. Gently apply pressure to the cake crumbs to anchor them to the frosting. Top with another portion of the birthday cake frosting, carefully spreading it so that it is even, but without disturbing the crumbs.
5. Place the second cake layer on top of the frosting.
6. Brush the rest of the cake soak over this layer.
7. Use the rest of the frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake.  Reserve a little extra for some decorations if you wish.
8. Place the rest of the cake crumbs in the center of the cake
9. Refrigerate the cake overnight.
10. Let the cake come to room temperature before serving.

Apple Blue Cheese Salad with Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

For the past few weeks I have been having a love affair with blue cheese.  I’ve been eating it on all my burgers and when I tasted it in the Panera fuji apple chicken salad I was hooked!  Also I must gush about how much I love red leaf lettuce.  It is my favorite leaf for salads, a cross between soft greens and crunchy romaine it is perfection. I decided to create my own salad and pulled out a salad dressing I discovered a few years ago.  This salad dressing is incredibly simple to make and very quick to whisk together.  I promise you will not be disappointed with this salad

Apple Blue Cheese Salad

adapted from allrecipes.com

Serves 4

Ingredients

The salad:

1 head of red leaf lettuce, washed and torn into bite size pieces

1/2 cup shredded carrots

2 oz blue cheese, broken up into chunks

1 apple, cored and sliced

1/2 cup walnuts, broken into pieces

Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing:

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 tsp honey

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1/8 cup raspberry balsamic vinegar

1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

Directions

Combine all the salad ingredients in a bowl, layering in order from bottom to top.  Whisk together the salad dressing ingredients.  Toss the salad with the dressing.  The salad dressing will keep well in the refrigerator.  Remove the dressing from the fridge for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Chicken Tortellini Soup with Beet Greens

Last week I made a tortellini pasta salad and I had half a package of tortellini leftover.  I also receive some beets plus their greens from my CSA so I thought that this soup was the perfect way to use the ingredients I had on hand.  Any dark leafy green vegetables will work fine in this (kale, turnip greens, collard greens, etc.).

Chicken Tortellini Soup with Beet Greens

Adapted from Eat Live Run

Ingredients

• 5-6 green onions, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 2 cups chopped cooked rotisserie chicken
• 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 bunch of beet greens, stems removed and chopped
• 9 oz frozen cheese tortellini
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Heat the butter in a pot over medium heat. When hot, add the green onions and carrots. Saute until the vegetables are just tender.  Sprinkle in the flour and mix well to coat all the veggies. Continue sauteing for another 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Slowly pour in the chicken or vegetable stock. Add the chopped chicken, garlic powder, tortellini and salt and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about five minutes until the vegetables are tender and pasta is soft.

Stir in the cream and the beet greens. Continue simmering for another couple minutes until the beet greens wilt in the soup. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste (I didn’t use anything extra so taste it first). If your soup appears too thick, add some extra stock.

**the pasta in the soup will retain some liquid, so if it absorbs a lot of liquid, add some extra stock when you reheat the leftovers.

Double Chocolate Caramel Surprise Cookies

I recently traveled to Denver, CO for a rotation in medical school and while I was there I visited Hammond’s Candies.  There is a free  tour where you can see them actually making the candies during business hours.  Their most popular item are their hard candies, but they also make chocolates and caramels.  I purchased a bag of “oops” caramel that has little bits of marshmallows dispersed inside.  It is caramel used to make Mitchel Sweets (caramel covered marshmallows).

Inspired by the large amount of caramel, I decided to try my hand at baking a cookie with a gooey caramel center.  I based the chocolate chocolate chip cookie recipe on one from Sally’s Baking Addiction and added the caramel in the center.  These cookies are extremely chocolatey, soft, chewy, and filled with a wonderful caramel surprise!  If you do not have access to Hammond’s oops vanilla caramel, any other caramel candy should work just fine.

Even if you do not have caramels, this cookie would taste great all on its own.

Bon appetite and Happy Baking!

Double Chocolate Caramel Surprise Cookies

adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

yield 30 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup + 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• caramel candies (Kraft individual caramels would work great here!, Hammond’s will be selling their oops candy online soon!)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute.  Stir the chocolate chips.  Continue to melt and then stir the chocolate 30 seconds at a time until the chocolate is melted and smooth.  In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter until it is smooth and creamy.  Beat in the sugar.  In a separate small bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla.  Mix in the egg/vanilla mixture.  Add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined.  Mix in the baking powder and salt.  Then mix in the flour and cocoa powder.

Scoop 1 Tbsp dough for each cookie.  Next lightly press in a piece of caramel into the cookie dough.  Top each of the cookies with another 1 Tbsp of dough and roll the dough in your hands until the edges are sealed and you can no longer see any caramel.

Bake for 10 minutes and remove from the oven.  The cookie center will appear soft, but take them out now so that the cookies will be soft after they cool.  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then place them on a wire rack to cool.

Asiago Cheese Bagels

Hello everyone!  This was my first attempt ever at making my own bagels from scratch!  It was pretty easy to do, there is just some down time while everything is rising.  I ran out of asiago cheese so I used some poppy seeds for a few bagels.  I think that the asiago cheese bagels were excellent but the poppy seed bagels were a little bland.  I made 12 bagels and they were too big.  I would definitely make at least 15 bagels (I did not have a scale to weight my dough like in the recipe).  I think for my next bagel recipe I’m going to try to find one that has a little more puff to it.  These were pretty thin bagels, but they are sooooo yummy!  I am in love with asiago cheese bagels now

Asiago Cheese Bagel Recipe

 

TJ’s Chole

I am thrilled to share that Gainesville, FL finally has a Trader Joe’s!!!  It opened in December and my boyfriend bought me two Trader Joe’s cookbooks.  This is the first recipe that I have tried it was so quick and easy I still cannot believe it.  This was fast as lightning to prepare and tasty!  I ate mine with Garlic Naan from Trader Joe’s but you could eat this over rice or plain for a low-carb option.  I am happy to begin a TJ’s section to my blog that will feature the many wonderful and convenient items available at Trader Joe’s.  Enjoy!

Chole

barely adapted from Cooking with Trader Joe’s

Ingredients

• 2 – 15.5 ounce cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 – 15 ounce jar Curry Simmer Sauce (trader joe’s item)
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1 Tbsp diced canned jalapenos (more or less depending on how spicy you like things)
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

Directions

Combine the garbanzo beans and curry sauce over medium heat in a pan.  Simmer for 15 minutes.  Mix onion, jalapenos, cilantro, lime juice and place the mixture on top of the garbanzo beans.  Serve alone, over rice, or with naan.

Spinach Artichoke Pizza

Spinach artichoke dip is one of my favorite appetizers (Check out my Restaurant Style Spinach Artichoke Dip). So when I saw this as an option for a pizza topping I had to try it out!  It is quite tasty, although it is not traditional pizza by any means.  I brought this as an appetizer and it was devoured.  By far the most incredible part of this recipe is the crust.  It was so easy to make, the dough was great to work with, and I loved the garlic flavor!

Next time I think I am going to try to split the dough for the crust in half and make two smaller, thinner crust pizzas.  Yum!

Spinach Artichoke Pizza Recipe

Garlic Pizza Crust Recipe

Chocolate Guiness Cupcakes with Chocolate Whiskey Ganache Filling and Bailey’s Buttercream

These cupcakes are absolute heaven!  Guinness chocolate cake, whiskey ganache filling, and a Bailey’s buttercream frosting.  I brought these to a football game tailgate last year and they were demolished.  The original recipe makes 24 cupcakes, but since that is a few too many cupcakes for just me, I downsized the recipe to make 12 cupcakes.

Here is a picture after I took out the center of the cupcakes.  I suggest mixing the extra cake with the leftover ganache as a snack

Enjoy!

Cupcake Recipe

adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

yield: 12 cupcakes

The Cupcakes:
1/2 cup Guinness stout
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 plus 1/8 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (1/8 cup = 2 Tbps)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 plus 1/8 teaspoons salt
1 eggs
1/3 cup sour cream

The Whiskey Ganache Filling:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon Irish whiskey

The Baileys Buttercream Frosting:
1 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
2-3 cups powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you like your frosting)
3 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 cupcake cups with liners. Bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to combine. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until combined. Add the Guinness-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and beat briefly. Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners. Bake until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on a rack.

Finely chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then, using a rubber spatula, stir it until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined. Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped.

Using the bottom of a large decorating tip cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes, going about two-thirds of the way down (see picture above for the finished result). Using a spoon, carefully pour ganache into the holes in the cupcakes until they are full.

Whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar until 2 cups are added.  Taste the buttercream and decide if you would like to make it sweeter by adding up to 1 more cup of powdered sugar.  Add the Baileys, increase the speed to medium-high and whip for another 2 to 3 minutes, until it is light and fluffy.

Frost the cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Store the cupcakes in an airtight container.

A picture of the ganache filling inside!

Epic Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

This was my first food post on my friend’s blog A Delicious Distraction, and my first food blog post ever!  I decided that my inaugural post would be this most amazing, epic and totally decadent cheesecake.  I made this for myself just for fun, but it is so good that if you make it for an event people will be raving about it all night.  I found the recipe from my favorite baking blog Brown Eyed Baker.  I adjusted the baking directions to help the cheesecake cool slow enough to not crack.

It has an oreo crust, a layer of chocolate fudge, crumbled Reese’s, chocolate ganache topping, and if you feel so inspired you can decorate it with a deliciously creamy peanut butter frosting.    If you love peanut butter and chocolate I highly recommend treating yourself to this delight!  I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Epic Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Recipe

adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients

Crust:
32 Oreo cookies, finely crushed or ground in a food processor
5½ Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Pinch of salt

Chocolate Fudge:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
20 miniature peanut butter cup candies, unwrapped and roughly chopped

Peanut Butter Cheesecake:
24 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs

Ganache Topping:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (300 degrees F if you are using a dark or non-stick pan). Butter a 9″ springform pan and set aside.

2. The Crust: Mix the oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt in a bowl until the crumbs are moist.  Then press the crumbs into the bottom and sides of the springform pan.  Freeze the crust for 10 minutes.

3. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a rack and let cool.

4. The fudge: Heat the cream until it simmers over medium heat.  Then pour the cream over the chopped chocolate in a separate bowl.   Let  it stand for 1-2 minutes and then add the vanilla extract and stir until the chocolate cream mixture is smooth and combined. Pour the fudge over the crust and place in the freezer for 10 minutes. Remove it from freezer, sprinkle the chopped Resse’s over the fudge and place the crust back into the freezer for 10 more minutes.

5. The peanut butter cheesecake: Beat the cream cheese and peanut butter together on medium speed until smooth. Then add the sugar and vanilla extract and beat on medium until they are thoroughly combined. Add the eggs one at a time and mix on low.  Beat the eggs just until they are combined with the cream cheese mixture.  Do not overmix or else your cheesecake will have too much volume.

6. Remove the pan from the freezer and pour the cheesecake filling over the crust.  Bake the cheesecake until the sides of the cheesecake are set and the middle just slightly jiggles, about 1 hour.  Turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven (this helps the cheesecake shrink slowly to prevent cracking).  Transfer to a wire cooling rack and run a knife around the edge of the crust to slightly separate the crust from the pan. Cool the cheesecake to room temperature (at least 1 hour). Refrigerate the cheesecake at least 4 hours until it is thoroughly chilled. Carefully remove the sides from the springform pan before serving.

7. The ganache topping: place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Simmer the heavy cream over medium heat. Immediately pour the simmering cream over the chopped chocolate. Let sit for 1-2 minutes and then stir until the mixture is smooth. Pour the ganache on the top of the cheese and spread evenly over the top of the cheesecake. Return to the refrigerator to set the ganache (~20 minutes).

8.  If you wish decorate it with some creamy peanut butter frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting Recipe

adapted from Food Network

Kathleen’s Peanut Butter Icing:

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl  and mix on medium-low speed until creamy.   Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you mix. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.  Apply generously to the cheesecake!